


Chance Meeting

by suganegg



Category: Gatchaman Crowds
Genre: First Meetings, M/M, same age au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 18:08:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6577024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suganegg/pseuds/suganegg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sugane and Joe (both 20) meet by chance at a college party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chance Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> sugane and joe being the same age messes up gcrowds' timeline and sugane's past completely but i like to think about how joe acted when he was younger lol i tried my best at guessing what he studied in college but if something got translated that actually says what it was then i don't know about it. i also pushed back when joe got his note from 19 to 20 just for this fic

Sugane didn’t really understand _why_ he was at this party. He only came at the insistence of Erina and his other friends, not because he actually wanted to go. The music was too loud, on the verge of giving him a headache, and the apartment was so crowded that it made it hard to maneuver through the mass of people. To top it all off, the lights were so dim that he was constantly bumping into or tripping over other people and furniture.

He searches desperately for even a brief respite from it all and finds his answer as he spies the door to the balcony. Sugane makes an excuse about needing some air—which wasn’t a complete lie—and slips away from his friends, beelining for the door. He heaves a sigh of relief as he shuts the noise out behind him, only to jump as he lifts his head and discovers that someone else had already had the same idea as he.

“Hey,” the man says, looking over his shoulder at Sugane, not moving from where he was leaning on the balcony’s railing.

“U-uh, hi,” Sugane stutters, eyes darting around the small space. “I didn’t think anyone else would be out here...”

The other man shrugs, “No problem.”

 Sugane stands by the door for a few seconds, unsure if he should go back inside, but as he listens to the muffled drum of the music he makes his decision to stay. He moves to stand on the other side of the space, and when he looks over at the man again he notices blue eyes inspecting him beneath shaggy green fringe.

“Are you Tachibana?” The man asks, then mimics a NOTE transformation with his hand. “The Gatchaman?”

Even though it’s been a year since the truth about Gatchaman had been revealed to the world, Sugane still isn’t used to his near-celebrity status and being recognized anywhere and everywhere he goes.

“Ah, yeah, that’s me. Sugane.” He adds his first name sheepishly though he’s sure the man already knows.

The man nods, his eyes still on Sugane’s. “I’m Hibiki Joe.”

“Nice to meet you, Hibiki-san.”

“Just Joe’s fine.”

“A-ah, alright. Joe-san…”

Joe chuckles, a smirk tugging on the edge of his lips. “You’re even cuter in-person than you are on TV.”

Sugane sputters, taken aback, heat rising in his cheeks. But it wasn’t as if the attention were unwelcome; Joe was definitely attractive, and Sugane didn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable like when women try to flirt with him. It was simply the fact that his comment came so out of the blue.

"T-Thank you…” Sugane mutters, which Joe seems to find amusing. Sugane wracks his brain for a topic to get some sort of control back over the conversation. “Do you go to my university? I thought only students of it were at this party, but I’ve never seen you on campus.”

Joe shakes his head, hair bouncing to reveal pink near the nape of his neck. “I go to Tokyo University. A friend of a friend invited me here.”

“Tokyo University?” Sugane repeats. Joe doesn’t look anything like the image of a Tokyo University student Sugane has in his mind—the messy, dyed hair and tight t-shirt with jeans are a total juxtaposition to the bookish student he’d expect. “What are you studying?”

“Public policy.”

Sugane moves a little closer to Joe, bridging the distance between them. Hesitantly, he places his hands on the balcony railing, close to Joe’s but not near enough to touch. “Why did you choose that?”

Joe goes quiet, turning away and staring out across the city lights twinkling in the darkness. Sugane’s stomach drops, and he wonders if he misspoke, somehow touched on a sore subject though he can’t imagine how. And just when he’s about to speak up again, backpedal away from the topic, Joe suddenly speaks up.

“I really admire what you do.”

“Huh?”

“You know, the whole Gatchaman thing. Helping people and keeping the world safe... My dream is world peace, so maybe we’ll actually be able to achieve that with heroes like you guys around.” Joe glances at Sugane out of the corner of his eye. “That’s why I’m studying public policy. I want to help change the world to achieve that dream.”

Everything about this man keeps Sugane on his toes, every new piece of information being something he never would have expected. It makes Sugane want to keep learning more about him, to stay on this balcony for the rest of the party, just the two of them and the muffled beat of the music.

“I think we can all be heroes.” Sugane replies slowly, hesitantly. It’s something he wouldn’t have said a year before, but he’s different after meeting Hajime and Rui. “We’re all capable of changing things for the better. I… I think that’s an amazing dream.”

He can feel his cheeks heating up again, embarrassed by his poor attempts at keeping the conversation with Joe going. But instead of a smirk, there’s a small smile when Joe chuckles. Joe opens his mouth to say something when the balcony door slides open, breaking the moment between the two of them.

“Joe!” The man in the doorway calls. “Come on, everyone’s waiting on you so we can start the game!”

Joe looks over his shoulder at the newcomer, “Alright, I’ll be there. Just give me a minute, Alan.” He jerks his thumb at Sugane, who had scooted away to the other side of the balcony once again.

Alan glances at Sugane, looking slightly surprised, then back at Joe. “Just don’t take too long, okay?”

“Okay, okay.” Joe waves his hand dismissively as Alan shuts the door.

“I guess you need to go.” Sugane says, his hand gripping the railing of the balcony tightly, wishing they could have more time to talk, more time to learn things about each other.

“Looks like it,” Joe sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. He glances over at Sugane, “Maybe we’ll get to talk again sometime.”

“Maybe.” He agrees. “I think I’d like that.”

There’s that smirk on Joe’s face again, practically already familiar to Sugane. Joe closes the space between them, leaning down to compensate for their difference in height.

“Me too, _Sugane_.”

Their closeness, Joe’s tone, and lack of honorific all leave Sugane off-balance, struggling to form a response. But by the time anything comes to mind, Joe’s already stepping inside the apartment, back to Sugane, hand raised in a salute of goodbye.

* * *

 

Sugane was late. The Gcrew was supposed to be getting a new member today, and he along with Hajime and Paiman were supposed to seek them out and meet them. He was racing to Tachikawa Station, where it had been communicated over NOTE that the new member had been found. He can see a crowd gathered inside as he runs through the north entrance, and he finds the whole thing all too reminiscent of when Hajime sealed Berg-Katze inside herself.

“Senpai! Over here!” Hajime calls, waving her arms and jumping up and down as she spies him pushing through the throng of people.

“This is our new member!” She proclaims, gesturing to the man next to her who is gripping a fiery red NOTE in his hand.

Sugane immediately recognizes the sharp blue eyes, the wild hair, the confident way the man holds himself. “Joe-san…?”

“Hey,” Joe smiles, waving his new NOTE. “Didn’t think we’d be seeing each other again so soon.”

“Oh, you two know each other?” Hajime asks, looking between them.  

Joe ignores the question, his smile shifting to a grin. “So, does this mean I should start calling you senpai instead?”

Sugane barely hears it over the pounding of his heart, the whooshing of blood in his ears, and the sounds of his own short breaths between failed attempts at calming himself. He’s completely in shock, unable to believe that the handsome and fascinating man he met due to chance at a party he hadn’t even wanted to go to, the man that he fully believed he would never see again, was standing in front of him and now a part of his team.

“ _Senpai_!” Hajime stage whispers, elbowing Sugane in the ribs. “Say something!”

Hajime’s action snaps Sugane out of his stupor, but unfortunately didn’t provide the lifeline of telling him _what_ that something should be. Sugane blurts the first thing to reach the surface of his addled mind, albeit as clichéd and lame as it was.

“Welcome to the team, Joe-san.”

**Author's Note:**

> im so sorry they didnt even kiss


End file.
